James Corden’s ‘Late Late Show’ off to solid start

CBS’ The Late Late Show With James Corden kicked off Monday night with laughs and solid ratings.

The show scored an overnight rating of 1.4/5 in 56 metered markets, according to early Nielsen numbers. That is up 27 per cent from the same night last year. It is also a 17 per cent increase over The Late Late Show season average (1.2/4) when it was hosted by Craig Ferguson.

Ferguson, the Scottish-born former host of CBS’ late night show, told his studio audience in April 2014 that he would leave in December when his contract expired.

CBS announced in September that Corden would replace Ferguson. Popular overseas, the British writer, actor and comedian won a Bafta for his performance in the sitcom Gavin and Stacey, which he also co-wrote and co-produced, and took home a Tony in 2012 for his role in the play One Man, Two Guvnors.

Tom Hanks and Mila Kunis were the host’s first guests Monday night. Kunis, who recently starred in Jupiter Ascending, seemingly confirmed to Corden that she had married Ashton Kutcher.

Corden came in 17 per cent ahead of NBC’s Late Night With Seth Meyers, which posted a rating of 1.2. The Late Late Show also topped NBC’s Last Call with Carson Daly, which earned a 0.8 overnight rating.

But the two Jimmys — Jimmy Fallon’s Tonight Show on NBC and Jimmy Kimmel Live on ABC — still dominated late night, each nabbing an overnight rating of 2.4/6.

“What it is on March 23 is not what it will be, and we can’t beat ourselves up too much about it,” Corden said in a recent interview. “Because the very nature of these shows is that they’re bred on familiarity and they’re bred on connection, and it’s impossible to have that straightaway.”